


The devil in me

by nobetterlove



Series: Casual Party [1]
Category: 13 Reasons Why (TV), Thirteen Reasons Why - Jay Asher
Genre: AU, Eavesdropping, First Kiss, M/M, i freaking love jeff, redo, what if, winter formal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-03
Updated: 2017-05-03
Packaged: 2018-10-27 04:48:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10802064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nobetterlove/pseuds/nobetterlove
Summary: Tony overhears a conversation between Jeff and Clay that pushes him to finally take some action.





	The devil in me

**Author's Note:**

> I've been all over the place, I know. I just finished up my semester, so I've got a lot of time on my hands. This one is a little two parter I thought up scrolling through the Tumblr craziness. What if Tony was the reasons for Jeff's bet. Here's what I thought might happen. As always, thanks for the read!

Tony loved his free period. Every day, he retreated to the library where he could sit with his headphones on, a tape in his Walkman and the people around him blurring into nothing. He lived for the time in his days where nothing mattered but whatever mixed tape he brought for the occasion. High school sucked, even for someone as figured out as he felt he was. So much happened so quickly, it was hard to keep up. Yes, he lived for these moments. In the length of a period, Tony could find his way back down to Earth enough to get through the rest of the day without worrying or caring about anyone around him.

Except for today. Today, Clay and Jeff sat down at a table a few down from him. Tony knew Clay was a peer tutor and had experienced some of his sessions with the jock sitting across from him. To say Jeff wasn’t the smartest, well, it was pretty true. The athlete needed a lot of help and Jensen always seemed eager to give it. More time on his hands now because lately, they hadn’t been spending much time together. Tony trying hard to get rid of the feels he’d accumulated for the boy over the years. Some people were just badass exactly as they were. Some people like Clay Jensen. Tony didn’t know if the boy didn’t give a damn, or was just too oblivious to notice anything happening around him. The kid did whatever he wanted, Tony catching him doodling on his French notes more often times than not.

The sounds of the two of them discussing American History were the first thing he heard when he pulled the earbuds out of his ears. Clay’s voice was prominent, trying so hard not to sound condescending as he described whatever it was they were working on. Like his music, Tony found that he could drown himself in the sound of Clay Jensen’s voice. Which, if he were honest with himself, started all his troubles with the boy. They’d been talking on the phone about something, he couldn’t even remember what. All he remembered was the pitch of Clay’s voice and all the things it seemed to be doing to him. From that point on, Tony knew he needed to distance himself from the other—their friendship be damned.

One thing Tony did hear, though, was mentions of the dance. It crossed his mind to go, the media department even going as far as to ask him to DJ. Dances weren’t really his thing, but music sure as hell was. Shaking his head, Tony forced himself to listen, interested by the combination of Clay Jensen and dances. 

“You’ve gotta go, dude. I won this one,” Jeff said, his hands up in the air in one of those ‘what can you do’ gestures. “I got my C+, so you get your guy and get your ass to the dance.”

Guy? Tony didn’t know if he heard correctly, but didn’t have any time to think about it as Clay started to talk next.

“It’s not that simple, dude. And I hate dances. I don’t have a suit. It’s just—I’m glad you did well, Jeff. Really, man, I am. That dance just… it isn’t for me.” Tony could barely make out the pink tinge on Clay’s cheeks, the boy obviously embarrassed to be admitting something like that in front of the jock.

“Don’t care, man. You made the beat, now you’ve got to live with it. Besides, Padilla would be crazy if he didn’t want to go with you! Stop being such a pussy and do it.” Jeff said this with a note of finality. If Tony knew anything about Clay, he knew the boy would not be able to deny Jeff. Honor was a big thing with Jensen. He could see that from a mile away. It didn’t hurt, either, that Tony seemed to be an object of conversation. That in combination with the dance made his palms sweat, and the thought of something that could never be become more prominent, less insanely impossible.

“Alright, alright,” he heard Clay say, the boy shaking his head in what looked like defeat. “I’ll promise to be at the dance, but I can’t promise it’ll be with him. I- we haven’t been seeing much of each other, lately. I scared him off, or something.” Oh, Clay. If only you knew, bud. Instead of listening to the rest of their conversation, Tony slipping the headphones back into his ears, his brain working full throttle on the plan that came to him after hearing everything Clay had to say.

\---

Later that week, Tony timed his attack perfectly. Coming out of school after last bell, Clay walked slowly, his long legs not carrying him wherever he was going all that fast. Tony pulled up along the curb, pushing the shifter into park as he idled there. “Hey, Jensen,” he called from the open window, grinning when the boy looked up, surprise written clearly on his face.

“Tony Padilla. Its been a while, dude. What’s going on?” Clay asked, placing his forearms against the open window, leaning in.

“You want a ride? You’re right. It has been fucking forever.” And like that, Tony knew that at least one part of his plan worked. Clay nodded quickly, like he was afraid Tony would rescind his offer if he didn’t act fast enough.

“Have you worked on her recently?” the other boy asked, petting the dash like he’d done so many times since Tony got his license and started driving her around. In their summers as younger kids, they spent a lot of time watching his dad work on the engine, and then when they were older, working on it themselves. Tony could never make Clay all that car savvy, but knew the boy did appreciate the pretty sound of a nice car’s engine purring. “You know my papi, man. We’re out there almost every night tuning something up. Dude can’t have idle hands. It drives him fucking nuts.” Tony replied, grinning when Clay nodded his head in agreement.

“Too right, man. Too right.”

They settled into the drive, the silence comfortable between them until Clay turned to him, eyeing the tape deck. “Can I put in a tape? I tried to find an old Walkman on Amazon the other day and didn’t want to pay up the ass for it. I miss the sound of these,” he said, holding up what Tony knew to be the mixed tape they made together one of the last times they hung out. Instead of answering, he took the tape from Clay’s hands, pushing it into the player gently. Joy Division started playing, the sound of it making them both relax a little more. By the time they pulled up at Clay’s house, the other boy was smiling, seeming more relaxed then he’d been in a long while.

“Thanks, Tony. Not sweating my ass off in the dead of Winter is always nice. I’ll see you tomorrow?” Clay asked, his tone questioning, if not hopeful. Tony grinned at that, his heart melting. Clay Jensen had the cutest mannerism, it killed him every time he got to experience them.

“Sure.” With that one word, Tony drove off, happy to have planted the seed. If Clay wasn’t going to take the initiative to make sure the two of them went to that dance together, Tony sure as hell didn’t have any problems doing it.

\--- 

The next morning found Tony outside Clay’s house. Waking up a little earlier sucked, but making sure to be here bright and early was more than worth it. The freshly toasted bagels with cream cheese were making the car smell enticing, Tony hoping that Clay didn’t decide to be late to school this morning. Fate happened to be on his side that day. Clay exited his house not even ten minutes later, not seeing him at first as he grabbed his bike from its perch on the porch. When blue eyes realized Tony’s Mustang was parked against the curb, a noticeable change happened. Those same eyes took on another light, like life were rushing back to them. A weird feeling passed through Tony at the sight. Eavesdropping sucked and through this whole process he felt kind of bad using Clay’s private conversation against him, but if just his car got a response like that, well, Tony couldn’t bring himself to feel too bad. He was doing this for the greater good. At least, that’s what he told himself.

“Jensen, hey. Want a ride to school?” he hollered out the window. Clay’s eyes caught his, the boy confused for a second before he dropped the bike back in its place and finished his trek down the path to the sidewalk, climbing into the Mustang when he reached it. “Two days in a row, Padilla? What’s the special occasion?” Clay questioned, only a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Tony didn’t answer, he merely pointed to the collection of food sitting on the middle console. “And breakfast? Why, you sure know how to spoil a boy.” Clay batted his eyelashes, bringing a hand up to his forehead in a fake swoon.

They dug into the bagels hungrily after that, Tony balancing his uneaten half on his thighs as he drove and ate with both his hands. Things were comfortable between them. Out of all the friends Tony made over the years, Clay’s companionship had to be the best. They didn’t need words to fill the gaps, or loud noises to make their time together mean something. They merely needed to exist in the same space and everything was good—too good. There weren’t many people like Clay Jensen; the boy was both a good person and an amazing personality.

The Mustang pulled into the school parking lot before either of them were ready. They’d been sharing glances the entire drive there, both eating and singing, jamming out to the mixtape they made together a couple years back. “Dude, I can’t believe you still have this.” Clay mumbled, a bite of bagel stuffed into the pocket of his cheek. “Its gotta be the best one we ever made.” He punctuated that statement with a swift and smooth air guitar solo, his fingers moving through the invisible rifts with ease. “Make me a copy, will you?” Tony’s lip quirked up, forming a half smile reserved for Clay Jensen and the moment he made him want to break his face smiling. “You know it, son. I’ll bring it tomorrow when I come pick you up.”

\--- 

The rest of the week and the next went much the same for the two boys. Every day, Tony would pick Clay up with some form of breakfast, the two jamming to the radio, or whatever tape they decided on when Clay climbed in. At the end of the day, Tony would pull up to the curb and hustle Clay into the Mustang, driving him home in the same fashion. Their relationship was back to what it used to be—easy and carefree. This time, Tony didn’t need to hold himself back. The secret he was keeping made him more comfortable and with comfort came flirting and touching, the ease in their friendship something he feared when he was trying to hold his feelings back. Now, he could gladly celebrate it. 

The last day before the dance, Tony decided to finally put his plan into action. He wanted to be going with Clay Jensen, and if he had any say in it, he would. As the boy climbed into the car, Tony immediately knew something was off. His plan on the backburner for a second, the smaller boy reached across the console, grabbing Clay’s forearm in what he hoped was a comforting gesture.

“What’s up, Clay? You look—off.” Tony tried to keep his voice level, though the nerves coursing through him took ahold at the end, making his words sound unsure.

Clay looked up, blue locking onto brown. “Nothing’s up. Not really. I just—why have you been here every day, Tony? It makes me miss the friendship we’ve always had. I don’t want to get used to this and have you file yourself away again like you did last time. I don’t even… I don’t even know what happened, what I did.” His face was beet red by the time his mouth closed around the last word, Clay obviously frazzled, worked up, maybe even a little mad. “What’s up with you, Padilla?”

Tony took a hard breath, thrown by the perceptiveness of the guy sitting next to him. So, his absence had been noted, severely so. For a long time, Tony didn’t really think Clay would really care, or notice for that matter. Oblivious happened to be one of Clay’s strongest characteristics. Knowing what he knew, however, Tony could understand where Clay was coming from. The guy he might like disappeared into thin air, without even a word of explanation.

Shaking his head of the thoughts, Tony dropped his hand lower, cupping Clay’s hand in his own. “I’ve got a confession to make. I uh—I pulled away. I took a step back from you and our friendship because I felt like I was getting to close. I don’t know if you know this or not, Clay, but I’m gay. I—the last thing I ever wanted to do was make you uncomfortable. I should’ve just… I guess talking about it would’ve been easier.” He stopped then, looking over to gauge Clay’s reaction. 

Clay's face, still red as ever, changed expressions drastically. Madness went to surprise, a pleasant surprise if the quirk of his lip said anything about it. Before he could let himself marvel in it, though, Tony knew he needed to speak his other truth. 

"And since I'm being honest..." he started nervous. "There's something else." He needed to stop, suck in some air before his chest pressed too tightly against his lungs and he couldn't any longer. "I was in the library last week. When uh... when you and Jeff were talking about the dance." 

Clay audibly sucked in air, the look of surprise then turning to humiliation. 

"You heard that? Oh shit, Tony. I'm sorry." Clay turned on the bench seat, his face looking way too pained, he the innocent one in all of this. 

"You're apologizing? Dude, no. I used knowing what I do from hearing your conversation to start hanging out with you again. I've been trying to pluck up the balls to ask you to the dance myself. I'm sorry, man. I shouldn't have taken advantage like that," Tony replied to him, talking quickly, suddenly so very embarrassed by his actions. Clay was a good dude, who deserved good shit. There must've been a better way he could've done this. Though, he would've never taken the step if he didn't hear what he did. 

"I... that's oddly sweet and I can't force myself to be mad at you, man. We're hanging out again. I've been missing you, and the good thing between us. You're a prick don't get me wrong. That's a shitty thing to do. I don't blame you, though. I probably would've done the same thing if it gave me an in with you," Clay said, breaking the silence that welled up between them. "And I'll go. You know, if that fucked up confession was your way of asking me to go with you." Clay laughed then, reaching out to place a soft hand on Tony's freshly shaven cheek. "I'm glad you did, man. Honestly." 

Without really thinking about it, Tony leaned into Clay's hand, relaxing as the words sunk in. He decided to let himself feel bad later. Right now, Clay Jensen was touching his cheek, and going to the Winter Formal with him. As shitty as it was, his action turned into something pretty bad ass. 

"That was, me asking you to the dance. And good. I'll get you the prettiest looking flower for that fly suit you told me about," Tony spoke up, his voice filled with rich affection and remorse, laced with a bit of excitement, too. 

"Do we get to call this a date?" Clay asked him, his hand still cradling Tony's cheek. "I want to call it one, if you're game. Consider it our way of... starting fresh." 

Tony smiled, a genuine, lip curling smile. His headed nodded on its own accord, the movement shaking loose some hair gelled less than satisfactory that morning. "Hell yeah, it's a date. Starting fresh sounds good. I'm sorry I did what I did, but I'm not sorry about this." 

Clay didn't answer, merely pressed forward and sealed his lips over Tony's. The kiss was soft, chaste, and over too quickly, but more than perfect. 

Tony blinked a couple times, his fingers coming up to brush his lips lightly. Too damn perfect, he thought. 

Sucking in a breath, he recollected himself, noticing the time. They needed to get to school. "Anyway. Let's get our asses going, leave that mushy shit for tomorrow."


End file.
